China Aid, Monday, November 8, 2021 (excerpts)
Deacon Xu Jiale and his wife Qin of Early Rain Covenant Church started to share the gospel with the national security officers of Chengdu District who stay at their home. Police have continued face-to-face surveillance since last week.
Shen Bing and wife Li moved in with Deacon Xu last week, expelled from their own home. Police moved into the house last week to discourage Shen and Li from staying. Deacon Xu and his wife are in their 70s. All 4 believers took their harassment with peace and joy. Kind and meek to the police, they took the opportunity to preach the gospel to them. Police were not offended. Rather, they became interested in it.
On November 5, police installed two surveillance cameras at the entrance of Deacon Xu’s home. Working personnel began a large project outside Deacon Xu’s place: installing cameras, digging the ground, and burying power lines. Qin reportedly told the workers:
“Great! Surveillance cameras make us safe. It would be great to install chips in each individual. One chip in the body, the other in the brain, wouldn’t it be great? Thank God, thank the Lord for their care of us. God knows that we are old and can’t defeat evil gangsters, so He allows cameras to be installed so that we are protected, and gangsters won’t intrude on our house. The cameras will record malicious deeds of gangsters.”
Police on duty at Deacon Xu’s home each day, have meals in their living room during the day and sleep in the living room at night. The couples prayed together one evening and wept. Suddenly, the officers broke into the house but stood by quietly until they finished praying. The leader of the police said in surprise, “You all are so emotional! Ugh, you win!”
On the first night, a police officer fell asleep at the dining room table. Li put a jacket on him because of the cold nights in Chengdu. She wrote a poem reflecting on the experience:
Gently, Took off the coat gently
Put it on the person who is on the night shift
Don’t wake up the person who is in deep sleep
Cold midnight, Children, poor children
May you in your weary dream See angels
Even if being at my own place We have no freedom
The elderly and gray-haired Deacon Xu couple continuously preached the gospel to the officers, becoming Christ’s beautiful testimony.